Metamorphosis 2
by Barnhousehotdog
Summary: Aaron and Mason return to school after their first adventure, to find that the next adventure is right around the corner when they find that their homeroom teacher is a creature called a Reptalonamorphic. They go to John's house to ask about it, and get kidnapped by the Reptalonamorphics. Together, they fight to survive until they can be rescued by John and their new agent friend.


Metamorphosis 2

Sequel to Metamorphosis

Sara Holthouse

Chapter 1

I stand on the sidewalk looking up at the school beside Mason. It had been nearly a year since we'd been in the school, since before all the craziness happened. We'd both returned home, and went back to John's house on weekends for more training. I wasn't sure how everyone would react to us, or if Mason and I could take it. But, it was going to happen sometime. I took a deep breath, looked at Mason, and began walking up towards the school. Mason followed. Many feelings were going through my body at once. Apprehension, a little bit of fear, and a little bit of expecting something like the Anamorphic to jump out at us at any second. There's was also a feeling of wanting things to go back to the way they'd been. I had to remind myself that was never going to happen. We made it up and into the school alright. We headed up into the hallway where our lockers for this year were, planning to act as inconspicuous as possible. The minute we stepped foot in the upstairs hallway, someone spotted us, and everyone turned around saying our names, or clapping. So much for that. Mason and I made our way through the hall, to where our lockers were. I opened mine up, and began emptying out my backpack, and refilling the things that I need back into my backpack.

"Aaron Harris right?" a voice asked behind me.

"Yeah probably," I replied, still focused on what I was doing. I took one more look at my schedule, making sure I had everything I needed before the next time I could get to my locker. Then, I stood up, closed my locker and turned around. A girl with thick, blonde, curly hair stood behind me. I recognized her from my class, but I'd never really talked to her.

"My name is Chase," she said.

"Nice to meet you," I said. I tried to get passed her, sure I was about to be late for homeroom. It felt good to only have to worry about getting to homeroom on time.

"You've met me before," she said, following me.

"I know," I replied. "Can we finish talking in homeroom please?"

"Oh yeah," Chase replied. "Sure." We walked to homeroom. I found Mason sitting in the corner of the room, glaring daggers at the teacher's desk.

"What's the matter?" I asked, sitting down beside him. I was hoping Chase would go sit by her own friends, but she didn't.

"New teacher," Mason said, not looking at me. "And there's something suspicious about him." I turned and saw the new teacher sitting at the desk, looking at his computer. There was something wrong looking about him. Everything around him was dark. As I looked at him, suddenly the teacher's tongue flickered out, and back in. I gasped.

"What?" Chase asked.

"He has a forked tongue," I muttered.

"Oh no," Mason said.

"I'm guessing that's not good," I said, looking back at him.

"Reptalonamorphic," Mason said.

"He's here for us isn't he?" I asked. Mason nodded.

"What?" Chase asked.

Before I could respond, Mason asked, "Who are you?"

"Mason, Chase, Chase Mason," I said, pointing to each of them as I said their names. Mason nodded at Chase, and gave me a look that said, _what is she doing here? _I shrugged. I had no answer to that question. I glanced back at the teacher. The teacher looked over at us, and glared at us. I looked away quickly. "Guess we've just gotta watch out," I muttered. Just then, the bell rang. Mason and I left quickly. Chase must've had a class there, because she stayed where she was.

"What is UP with her?" Mason asked on our way down the hall.

"No idea," I said. "She randomly came up to me at my locker, and followed me around."

"Okay, I guess we've just gotta keep an eye on her," Mason said. I nodded, and we continued on our way to class.

The rest of the day went about as normal as it could go at our school. We went to the rest of our classes without any sign of the new homeroom teacher, or Chase. So, by the time Mason and I left the school, I was more relaxed as I'd been all day. Mason and I walked down the road in the direction of John's house. On some days we stopped there around the end of the day, only if something popped up. I'd say today it did. Mason wanted to get John's opinion on the Reptalonamorphic and Chase. I agreed with him.

About half way there, I started to get a funny feeling, like the feeling you get when something bad is about to happen, or someone is following you. I glanced behind us, just in time to see a shadow slide behind the house we'd just passed.

"Mason," I whispered.

"Yeah?" Mason asked.

"We're being followed," I muttered. Mason glanced at me, and then looked forward again. I did too, figuring whoever it was, was probably still watching us.

"Reptalonamorphic?" Mason asked.

"Not sure," I replied.

"Okay, just keep going," Mason said. I nodded. We kept walking. I kept both ears open for any sound behind me. I suddenly heard the sound of someone running. Before I could turn around, or realize what was happening, someone tackled me around the legs. I fell to the sidewalk on my hands and knees. Pain burst up my arms and legs. I gritted my teeth and ignored it.

"Mason run!" I yelled. I flipped onto my back, and kicked the man who had tackled me in the stomach with both feet. The man stumbled back. I recognized him as the new homeroom teacher from that morning. I leapt to my feet before the man could get himself right again. I had no idea whether Mason had run or not. The Reptalonamorphic advanced towards me. I got the feeling someone was behind me, and I turned around to find myself facing two more of them.

"Aaron!" Mason yelled. I couldn't see where he was, but I knew he'd noticed what was happening and probably coming back.

"No, Mason run!" I yelled. I turned back to the first Reptalonamorphic and took a swing at him. He ducked easily. One of the Reptalonamorphics behind me ducked in front of me, and got me right in the stomach. I coughed and doubled over in pain. The last one took a swing at me, and punched me right in the mouth. I felt a tooth fall out, and tasted blood. One of the other Reptalonamorphics swung a punch up from below my face. It hit me right in the chin. My head snapped back, and I fell to the sidewalk. The back of my head struck the cement. The last thing I saw was Mason coming up behind one of the Reptalonamorphics and aiming a punch.

"No," I groaned. "…Run…" Then, the blackness swallowed me whole.

Chapter 2

I woke up with an extreme headache. I tried to move my hand to touch my head, and found myself tied up to a chair. I groaned. Everything around me was dark; I could barely see a thing. I was about to yell when very bright lights flickered on. I squinted and blinked.

_So this is how it's going to go eh? _I thought. I'd seen enough movies where this type of things happened. The kidnappers' victim wakes up to bright light, the weirdo kidnappers come in speaking in some foreign language that the victim doesn't know, and they want him to do something that he wouldn't so unless his life was on the line. But, no Reptalonamorphics came in, so I looked around. I needed to know what had happened to Mason. I wiggled in my chair. I could tell I wasn't going to get out of this easily, so I decided to do the easy thing to find Mason.

"Mason!" I yelled. I heard a big rattling sound behind a door right in front of me.

"Aaron?" Mason's voice answered mine. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Aaron, are you okay?"

"Well, for the most part," I answered. I could feel a bit of my eye swelling up. I didn't remember getting punched in the eye, but I was getting a black eye anyway. Suddenly, I heard a door swing open somewhere else in the room. "Someone's coming," I said.

"Stay strong my friend," Mason said. Then, he didn't say anything else. The Reptalonamorphic homeroom teacher entered the room and came to stand in front of me.

"You is it?" I said. "I thought you looked bad this morning, but now you're just plain ugly."

"Shut up," the Reptalonamorphic growled.

"Yeah, your voice doesn't help much either," I said. The Reptalonamorphic punched me right in the jaw. Pain once again exploded in my already bruised jaw. I was reminded of the fact that I had a tooth missing. I blew air out through it. "Did you guys really have to knock my tooth out?" I asked, looking up at the Reptalonamorphic. "I whistle almost every word." I wasn't quite sure why I was getting the Reptalonamorphic worked up. I guess I was just trying to show I wasn't scared of them. But that was a lie. In truth, I was terrified. The Reptalonamorphic didn't respond. Two more came through the door. I was more than terrified now. I sucked in my breath. I knew the Reptalonamorphic could tell now, my cool guy act was over.

"Where is the Metamorphic?" one of the Reptalonamorphics who'd just entered the room asked. I almost blew it right then and there by asking, what? I stopped myself just in time and said nothing. If these guys didn't know I was the Metamorphic, I saw no point in telling them. I decided to rephrase the question I almost asked.

"What's a Metamorphic?" I asked. I slurred my words slightly, just to annoy them. Yeah, I wasn't thinking very smartly. The second Reptalonamorphic that hadn't spoken yet, sighed and turned to Mr. homeroom teacher reptile.

"What did you do to him?" it asked.

"Nothing," the Reptalonamorphic said, indignantly.

"What do you guys want from me?" I asked. "I've never heard of a Metamorphic, okay?"

"Okay," one of the Reptalonamorphics said. "Let's go." The other two Reptalonamorphics turned and left. The one that had spoken followed. Before he left, he turned around and said, "We'll be back. And you will tell us." Then, he was gone. I sighed. The fear I felt temporarily went away.

"Hey Mason?" I called.

"Yeah?' Mason asked.

"You heard that right?" I asked.

"Couldn't help but hear it," Mason replied. "Kinda taped to a chair here."

"Yeah, same," I replied. "But, we need to get out of here."

Chapter 3

I don't know how long we sat there with no word from the Reptalonamorphics. But, the whole time, I was trying to think of a plan of escape. Nothing came to mind. Nothing at all. I really had no idea how we were going to get out of there. I was almost pretty close to thinking we were going to die. Then, I remembered John was out there. He would figure it out. Mason's and my parents would contact John. And somehow, I had a feeling Chase would show up too. I still wasn't sure what was up with that girl, but I could tell there was something. We would be found soon.

I'd just had that thought when the Reptalonamorphics returned. All three of them had something in their hands. The room was too dim, and I couldn't see what it was.

"Hey could you guys possibly let me out?" I asked. "I have to pee." The Reptalonamorphics didn't even look at me. They simply turned and went through the door that led to where Mason was.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" I yelled. All was silent for a few minutes, and then screams of pain came from the room. I knew for sure it was Mason.

"Mason!" I yelled. I pulled against my bonds. My only thought was to get to my best friend. "Mason!" I yelled louder. The screams didn't stop. I didn't know what they were doing, but I couldn't sit there while my best friend was being tortured in the next room. Eventually I tired myself out struggling, and I couldn't do it anymore. I slumped in my chair, but in no way could block out Mason's screams. I fought back tears. But then, I thought of one more idea. The last possibility. I was the Metamorphic. I had the power to change shape, or at least do what I did to the Anamorphic at John's house all those months ago. I closed my eyes and concentrated. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. I couldn't change. I opened my eyes and gasped. We really were in trouble. The screaming stopped. The Reptalonamorphics came back into the room.

"What did you do to him?" I demanded. The three Reptalonamorphics came over to me and started setting up some sort of equipment. I didn't know what it was. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. One of the Reptalonamorphics took two cords and put them on my temples on either side of my head. A different Reptalonamorphic pushed a button. It started feeling like something was poking around in my brain. Suddenly, whatever it was sped up. I felt all my thoughts and memories being sorted around. It was the weirdest feeling in the world, and it hurt. It hurt horribly. I heard myself scream before I could stop myself. I knew what they were doing now. They were looking through my memories to see who the Metamorphic was. I couldn't let them find out. I fought back. I stopped thinking, refusing to let anything come into my brain. The prober stopped. It couldn't go any farther. The strain was like nothing I'd ever felt. I didn't know how long I could keep it up. I felt my legs and arms twitching uncontrollably. I was going into some sort of seizure.

"Enough," one of the Reptalonamorphics finally growled. "We won't get anything else out of him today." The Reptalonamorphic went over and pushed the button again. The prober left. I flopped back in my chair, and my seizure slowed to a stop. The Reptalonamorphics looked at me, and then turned and left the room. I breathed a sigh of relief, and blacked out.

Chapter 4

I regained consciousness slightly, and I heard voices. They didn't sound like the Reptalonamorphics. I didn't have very much strength, hardly enough to open my eyes. But, I managed to open them slightly. I could see things blurrily in front of me.

"What'd they do to them?" I heard a girl's voice ask. Suddenly, someone appeared in front of me. She had blonde, thick, curly hair. I knew who it was.

"There's no way to be certain," a man's voice said. I recognized that voice immediately. John and Chase had found us.

"John," I groaned. "Chase. I knew you'd find us." I couldn't see their reactions. "Mason's in there," I said, pointing. Then, I blacked out again.

I didn't know if that had been a dream or not. It would be horrible to wake up later to find that our rescue had only been in my head, and that the Reptalonamorphics were back with their prober thing. I had barely withstood it the first time. If I fought the second time, it would probably kill me.

I felt myself regain consciousness slightly. Then, I opened my eyes on a bright whiteness. I gasped, and squinted. Soon, my eyes adjusted, and I realized I wasn't in the warehouse anymore. I smiled slightly. It hadn't been a dream after all. Then, I thought of Mason. I sat up quickly. Black spots danced in front of my eyes, and I got dizzy.

"Whoa," I muttered. I put my head in my hands until the dizziness and the spots faded. Then, I looked around. No one else was in the room with me, but the door was open slightly. Doctors and Nurses raced passed in the hall. I was in a hospital. "Hello?" I called. Someone heard me, because the door opened. A doctor, John and Chase entered the room. They all smiled at me. I smiled slightly, but I couldn't fully smile until I knew how Mason was. "Mason?" I asked.

"He's fine," the doctor said. "You're both going to be just fine, which is a miracle seeing as at first we couldn't figure out what happened to you. Do you remember?"

"No," I lied. I knew the doctor wouldn't understand. I stared at my blankets for a few minutes, and then I asked, "Can I go see him?" The doctor, John and Chase looked at each other. Then, the doctor nodded. They left so I could get dressed. I don't know how I'd gotten into the pajamas I'd woken up in, but I decided not to care. I found a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, a t-shirt and shoes that were about my size and pulled them on. Then, I went out in the hall. I spotted John and Chase coming out of a different room, and I guessed that was where Mason was. I entered the room, and saw Mason lying on the bed in the room. I went over and pulled a chair up next to the bed. I sighed. "This is my fault," I muttered. I put my head in my hands. I was blaming myself for suggesting we go to John's house that day after school to ask him about the homeroom teacher. I was blaming myself for not hearing the Reptalonamorphics behind us sooner. I was blaming myself for getting caught, and not making sure Mason got out of there. And above all, I was blaming myself for being the Metamorphic. Suddenly, I felt a great need to punch something. I found an extra pillow in a cupboard. I pulled it out, and punched it three times. Finally, I was satisfied, and I put it away. I sat back down in the chair. Just as I sat down, Mason moved slightly. He opened his eyes, and they were still full of fear. Mason went to sit up quickly like I had. I put my hand on his shoulder before he could.

"Aaron?" Mason asked, looking at me. "What…what's going on?"

"It's okay," I said. "We're safe. We're in a hospital. John and Chase found us." Mason sighed, and flopped back down on the bed.

"Chase?" he asked. "She found John? What is up with her?"

"I don't know," I replied. "I never really got the time to ask." Mason smiled. Suddenly, his smile faded, and he turned his head to look at me.

"I didn't tell them," he said. "I didn't give you up." I smiled knowingly.

"Thanks," I said. "I think we got really lucky though. One more time of that, and I think they would've got it out of me."

"How do you think they knew to find us?" Mason asked. I shrugged. "And if they found us once…." Mason said, slowly. "Who's to say they won't do it again?"

"We don't need to think like that," I said. "For right now, we're safe. And next time they find us, we'll be ready." I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt. I sighed and stood up. "I should probably be getting back." Mason nodded.

"See you later," he said.

"See you," I said. I turned and returned to my room. I sat on my bed, and spotted my cellphone sitting on the little table beside the bed. I immediately thought of my parents, and felt bad for not thinking of calling them. I picked up the phone and dialed my home phone number. My little sister, Madison picked up the phone.

"A-won?" she asked. Madison was only around one year old, so she still had trouble pronouncing some things, including my name.

"Yep," I replied. "It's me Maddie. How have you been? Are mom and dad there?" It felt so good to hear my little sister's voice, I almost felt like crying. But, I didn't want my little sister to hear that, so I held it in.

"Broth-da," Madison said. "Where been?"

"I've been on a little camping trip," I said. I knew Madison wouldn't know what I meant if I told her what really happened. And being one year old, she really shouldn't have to handle that kind of thing anyway. "Are mom and dad there?" Madison didn't reply, but I could kind of sense she wandered away to find my mom and dad. I heard Madison say something about 'Big broth-da' a ways away from the phone. Then, my dad took the phone.

"Hello?" my dad's voice asked.

"Hi dad," I said, smiling.

"Aaron!" Dad exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I replied. "A little shaken up, but I'm fine. Mason is too. Did John tell you what happened?"

"Only that you'd been kidnapped," Dad replied.

"Yeah," I said. "Mason and I both were kidnapped by the Reptalonamorphics."

"What are they?" Dad asked.

"Well, do you remember the Anamorphic?" I asked.

"How can I forget?" my dad replied.

"Well, they're like him, but reptiles," I said. "And, they're much worse." My voice shook slightly.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Dad asked.

"I'm fine," I replied. "Give my love to mom, tell her I'm okay, and I'll be home soon."

"Okay," Dad said. "Bye Aaron."

"Bye Dad," I said. I hung up, and put the phone down. Suddenly, the whole hospital shook. I gasped, jumped to my feet, and looked out the door into the hall. John stood at the end of the hall, looking at something.

"John, what's going on?!" I asked. John turned to look at me, his eyes full of alarm. I got a really bad feeling, and could guess what he was going to say before he said it.

"The Reptalonamorphics," he said. "They're here."

Chapter 5

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Go get Mason," John said. "And then, you two get out of here."

"I don't want to leave you here!" I exclaimed.

"They're here for you!" John exclaimed. "You'll only make it worse if you stay! Go!" Reluctantly, I turned and ran down the hall to Mason's room. But, I had no intention of leaving John to fight alone. I ran into Chase as I turned the corner. I mean literally, we ran into each other. We both stumbled backwards. Chase looked at me, and seeing the look on my face knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"The Reptalonamorphics are here," I said. "John's trying to hold them off by himself. Go to him, I'll get Mason and join you in a minute." I ran passed her, and into Mason's room.

"Aaron what's going on?" Mason asked. He was fully dressed again, his pajamas identical to the ones I'd woken up in on the bed.

"The Reptalonamorphics are here," I said. "John told me to go get you and get out of here."

"He's facing them by himself?!" Mason exclaimed.

"I sent Chase to help him," I said.

"They can't hold them off alone!" Mason exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "That's why we're not leaving. Let's go!" Mason nodded, and we ran out of the room and back towards where I'd left John. As we ran, I felt myself changing. I'd only ever used my Metamorphic powers once before, while fighting the Anamorphic in John's house. This felt nothing like that. I could feel my arms getting longer as I ran, my feet changing shape, and something popping up all over my body. Suddenly, I was an eagle flying down the hallway. I looked at myself amazed, and slowed down. I looked behind me at Mason. He got the idea, and jumped on my back. I flew us down the hall. We turned the corner and came upon John and Chase fighting all three Reptalonamorphics. I flew right over their heads, and attacked the one Reptalonamorphic that John was fighting. I began clawing at its eyes. I t backed up screaming an unearthly sound. I flew down to the ground. Mason jumped off, and I turned back into myself. There was a pile of pipes and other junk next to the doors where the Reptalonamorphics had busted in. We ran over there and picked up a few sharp, broken pipes and other things. We backed up next to John and Chase.

"I told you two to get out of here!" John yelled at us.

"Oh come on John, you know me by now," I replied. "You really think I'm going to do what I'm told?" John just shook his head. The three Reptalonamorphics had backed up, and were looking at us. I was beginning to wonder what they were doing, because now they were outnumbered, and just standing there. But then, the hospital started to shake. There was a really big crash outside, and very loud footsteps started coming from outside. I big part of the ceiling fell to the floor right in front of us. We all backed up, quickly. A big foot came in right after it.

"Oh…my…gosh," I said slowly. I humongous face loomed down through the hole in the ceiling. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. I didn't know what it was, but I could see the Reptalonamorphics smiling behind it. And I knew we were in trouble.

"Crap," Mason muttered.

Chapter 6

The big creature started to put its next leg inside the hole.

"John…" I asked. "What is that?"

"I'll tell you later," John said. "Run!" John dodged to the side. We followed. I was in the back. Mason stumbled in front of me. I caught him, and pushed him forward. John led us out an emergency exit, and outside, on the other side of the building from the monster. We stopped to catch our breath.

"Okay, what WAS that?" Mason asked.

"A Broodarmor Jackal," Chase replied. "I've dealt with them before."

"Where exactly?" I asked.

"I'm a MACI agent," Chase said. "Monsters And Creatures Investigators."

"Let me guess," I said. "The reason you were in our school was because you were there to investigate me."

"You got it," Chase replied.

"This is all very nice to know, but we have bigger things to worry about right now," John said, pointing in the direction of the Broodarmor Jackal.

"I thought that thing kind of looked like a Jackal," Mason said. Suddenly, the monster roared from the other side, and its loud footsteps started coming towards us.

"Time to go," I said. We jogged out of sight of the hospital.

"Chase, you've fought these things before, how do we get rid of them?" John asked. I was slightly surprised he didn't know, but I decided to worry about it later.

"We need wood!" Chase exclaimed.

_Wood? _I thought. Mason and I exchanged a glance, but continued running after Chase and John. Chase stopped for about two seconds, and then she was running again, a pile of wood in her hands. Chase led us back to the front of the hospital. There was no Jackal or Reptalonamorphics in sight.

"Where'd they go?" I asked.

"Somewhere over the rainbow," Chase replied.

"Isn't that original?" Mason muttered.

"Shut up and hold this," Chase said, giving Mason the pile of wood. I smiled, and held in my laughter. Chase started doing something on the ground, but I couldn't tell what it was. I heard another roar, and turned around. The Broodarmor Jackal was coming towards us, with the three Reptalonamorphics on its back.

"Distract that thing!" Chase yelled. I nodded, and ran forward.

"Guard her, and whatever she's doing," I said to John and Mason. "I'll distract this thing."

"Be careful," John said, and he and Mason got into defensive positions in between Chase and the monster. I nodded, and ran at the Broodarmor Jackal.

"Hey ugly!" I yelled. "Over here ugly! Come get me you brute!" I dodged sideways, away from my friends. The Jackal followed. The Reptalonamorphics hissed at me from its back. Then, they jumped off and advanced towards John and Mason. I figured they could handle it. I had a big ugly Jackal to worry about. I backed up towards the road. The Jackal was one step behind me. I only took my eyes off of it for a second, to check if any cars were coming. Just my luck, one was. I backed up a bit faster, until I was right in the middle of the road. The Broodarmor Jackal stepped onto the road too.

"Come on!" I yelled. "I'm right here! Come get me!" The Jackal walked towards me. The car squealed towards both of us. Just before impact, I leapt into the air and changed into a raven. The Broodarmor Jackal looked up at me, and then saw the car one second too late. The car crashed into it. The Jackal flew backwards, but amazingly the car kept driving. I never really knew what normal people saw when they faced the weirdness of my world. The Broodarmor Jackal struggled to its feet. I flew down in front of it and changed back to a human. The Reptalonamorphics started yelling. At first I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I finally understood, and it made my blood run cold.

"It's him!" they yelled. "He's the Metamorphic! The boy was the Metamorphic all along!"

Chapter 7

The Reptalonamorphics turned away from Mason and John and came towards me. The Broodarmor Jackal started to stand up.

"Crap," I muttered. "Chase! Are you done yet?!"

"No!" Chase called back. "Just a little longer!" The Reptalonamorphics started running towards me, and before I could move I was surrounded.

"I might not have much longer!" I yelled. "Hurry!" Mason and John started trying to get towards me, but the Reptalonamorphics made a tight circle. Then, the Jackal was on its feet again. Mason and John pushed through the circle, and joined me back to back in the middle. I felt something changing within me, and I knew I was doing what I had done to the Anamorphic at John's house last year. Except for this year, I was stronger and had better control. I saw the green light form around me. The fireworks began. I only wished I had a sword. This time, I took a handful of the fireworks in my hand, and chucked it at one of the Reptalonamorphics. It backed up, but the fireworks got him in the stomach. Something like lasers started shooting from my hand. I shot them at the remaining two Reptalonamorphics. One got hit in the head, and the other in the chest. They both fell to the ground, beside their friend. I sucked in a breath, and the green light faded. Somehow, this time I wasn't tired. John, Mason and I turned our attention to the Broodarmor Jackal. It had regained its feet, and was staring down at us. That's when Chase revealed what she had been doing. She stood up, and pushed up what looked like a big, tall stick with a hole in it. Suddenly, bright light surged through the hole, and Mason, John and I averted our eyes. When we looked back, the Jackal fell to the ground. I could tell it was dead before it landed. We were all silent for a minute, and then Mason whooped loudly. I turned towards him smiling. He was smiling too. I didn't see the Reptalonamorphic move behind him until it was too late. The Reptalonamorphic struggled onto its knees, and stuck the sword in his hand out. The sword went right through Mason's chest.

"MASON!" I exclaimed. The Reptalonamorphic pulled its sword out, and fell back to the ground. John pulled the sword from its grasp and stabbed it in the gut. I ran forward and caught Mason before he fell. "Oh man, come on Mason, come on man," I said.

"Let's get him inside," John said. He grabbed Mason on the other side, and we pulled him into the hospital. Chase ran and opened the door. She went and hurriedly found a nurse and told her what had happened. The nurse led us to the closest room, and we put Mason on the bed. We backed up and let the doctors get close and inspect him. I backed up to the wall, and put my hands up to my head in my hair, worriedly. I backed up to the wall, and put my hands down. I felt myself go numb. I wasn't sure what was going on anymore.

I was dimly aware of a doctor saying, "We need to get him to emergency surgery." I felt a hand on my shoulder, pressuring me to get up. Slowly, I did. I felt someone gripping both of my arms and leading me outside. I realized it was Chase and John. They took me back to my hospital room. I sat down on the bed, and put my face in my hands. John and Chase sat down on either side of me.

"It'll be alright son," John said. "Mason's strong. He'll pull through."

"John's right," Chase said. I picked my head up, and looked at her. "I know how this feels," Chase continued. "Many of my best friends have gotten hurt during our missions. Sometimes they pull through, and sometimes they don't. And I know, you hardly know me, and you might not trust me fully yet, but I am on your side. And if you need someone to talk to, I'm here. So is John. We're here to help." I nodded my thanks, flopped back on my bed, and closed my eyes.

Chapter 8

I don't know how long we stayed like that. Chase and John sitting on either side of me on the bed, and me flopped back on the bed with my eyes shut. I just know that eventually the door opened. I sat up, and opened my eyes. A doctor stood in the doorway.

"We've done all we can for him now," she said. "You can come see him." Her tone didn't sound good. I nodded, and stood up. The nurse led me out of the room and back to Mason's room. Mason was as pale as a dead person, and I couldn't see him breathing. "I'm sorry," the nurse said. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I couldn't even move. But slowly, I walked forward until I stood next to Mason's bed. I guess the nurse thought it was a good time to leave, because she left. I pulled a chair over and sat down. Now, I had never cried much in my life. I hardly even cried when I got hurt. But, as I sat there, staring at my best friend's body, the tears fell, and there was no stopping them. I didn't care if the door was still open, or if anybody could hear me, or if anyone was watching. I didn't stop until the bright lights started flashing around the room. I looked up in surprise. They were all coming from Mason. I was tempted to call out for John, but I was so amazed I couldn't speak. Suddenly, the lights faded down into Mason's body, and Mason's chest started moving. I gasped. Mason's eyes flew open. He took a big breath, gasping.

"Mason?" I asked. Mason looked over at me, confusion on his face.

"What happened?" he asked. I shrugged, almost laughing. I couldn't believe it. Mason was okay. "I remember the sword getting me from behind," Mason said slowly. "And then, nothing."

"It was one of the Reptalonamorphics," I replied. "One of them wasn't quite dead. They are now."

"How am I not?" Mason asked. I told him about the lights. Mason was silent for a few minutes after I told him. Then, he said, "I've never heard of anything like that before."

"Me either," I replied. "It was pretty cool though."

"Oh of course," a voice said. Mason and I jumped. The voice came from over beside the window, but nothing was there. "Whenever we do something nice, nobody even knows it's us," the voice continued. "Nobody's ever even heard of us. Silly mortals."

"Shut it," another voice said. "You complain all the time. These aren't regular mortals anyway. This is the Metamorphic and the undead one!" Suddenly, the lights appeared again, the voices flying around in the lights. Distinguishable in the lights were two faces.

"Whoa, wait a second," Mason said. "You just called me the undead one. Are you calling me a zombie?"

"No!" one of the lights said. "THE UNDEAD ONE. One who has been there and back!"

"I'm confused, but okay," Mason said.

"It doesn't matter," the other light said. "The point is we are here to warn you of your futures."

"Our futures?" I asked.

"Yes," the light continued. "It is written."

"It is written that the Metamorphic and his undead friend will save the world for the terror of the evil."

"What evil?" Mason asked. "The Reptalonamorphics and Anamorphic are gone."

"We cannot say," the lights said in unison. "But we were sent to bring the undead back, and to warn you to be ready. Now we leave. Good luck." The lights disappeared. Mason and I looked at each other.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"We just had a conversation with lights," Mason replied.

"Not a very good conversation," I responded. "What on earth were they talking about?"

"How should I know?" Mason replied.

"I don't know," I replied. "But, I think we need to watch our backs for a while from now on." Mason nodded.

Chapter 9

Suddenly, the door opened, making us both jump. We turned around to see John and Chase standing in the doorway. Both of their faces broke into wide grins seeing us both sitting there.

"Mason you're alright!" John exclaimed. They entered the room.

"Yeah, more or less," Mason said. "But get this…" He told John and Chase about the lights, with me jumping in to add some things from time to time. They were both silent for a while, thinking.

"Well, what the heck does that mean?" Chase asked eventually.

"It means," John said. "Something big is coming. Something bigger than any of us have seen before."

"Fighting the Anamorphic and being tortured by the Reptalonamorphics wasn't enough?" I asked.

"Apparently not," John said. Then, the door opened again. Doctors and nurses rushed in amazed to see Mason. They ushered us out, so they could do checkups and make sure Mason was good again. I went back to my room, just now realizing how tired I really was. John and Chase must've realized it too, because they went off to do other things, leaving me to go back to my room alone. I entered my room, and immediately flopped on my bed and fell asleep.

I woke up to two voices saying my name out in the hall. I shook off my sleepiness as my parents and Madison entered my room. At first, I wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Hey," I said finally. Madison ran forward and leapt on top of me on the bed.

"Bro-da bed-a?" she asked.

"Yeah Madison," I said. "I'm better." My parents walked in and joined us sitting on the bed.

"And how's Mason?" my dad asked.

"He's fine," I replied. "We kinda had a fight with the guys that kidnapped us and he got hurt but he's gonna be fine." I didn't want to tell them the experience in full detail. Madison didn't need to hear about all that kind of stuff. My parents told me about what was going on at home, and how there was memorials for Mason and I at school. I was very surprised at that. Mason and I had never been very popular. It had always been just us two. No one else had ever really paid us much attention. We had always been fine with it, and I didn't really want more attention. Now more than ever, I just wanted a little bit of a normal life. But, I was starting to think that would never happen. My parents told me about a lot more things, but eventually they had to leave when the doctors came in to check on me. After a while, the doctors decided I was fine, and they left. Before they closed the door, I spotted Mason's parents walking passed in the hall. They waved, and I waved back. I decided they probably told Mason about everything my parents had told me. I wasn't sure why, but the memorial thing was still bothering me. Or, it might've still been what the lights had said about the evil coming, and Mason and I would have to fight it. Finally, I stopped thinking and fell back asleep.

Chapter 10

**Two Months Later**

Mason, Chase and I stood outside the school, much like we had before everything happened. But also, back then, we hadn't known Chase.

"If we get attacked today, I'm going to freak out on somebody," Mason said.

"Yeah, but we have an agent here to protect us this time," I said.

"Shut up," Chase said. Mason and I looked over at her. She smiled. We smiled too. Then, together we walked up towards the school. About halfway towards the school, we walked passed one of the memorials. I stopped and looked at it. Mason and Chase stopped too. Mason wasn't as bothered about it as I was. Mason elbowed my arm. I nodded, and we kept going.

"You know, I was thinking," Mason said. "The Undead One still sounds too much like a zombie to me."

"So, what do you want to be called?" I asked, jokingly.

"How about…Zombawarramorphic?" Mason replied.

"What?" Chase asked.

"Zombawarramorphic," Mason said. "Zombie, warrior and morphic like Aaron."

"Well I like it," I replied. We entered the school. At first no one noticed us. We kept our heads down, and went to our lockers. Then, the three of us entered homeroom together. A chorus of clapping, whooping, and exclaiming rang out. Everyone in homeroom was making some sort of noise to show they were happy we were back. The awkwardness faded slightly, and we went and sat down. I looked over and saw our normal homeroom teacher. I smiled. Some kids started coming over and asking us questions.

Finally the homeroom teacher said, "Children, leave them alone a bit. I'm sure they're not ready to be bothered with so many questions yet." The kids left and went off into their own conversations. I looked at Mason and Chase.

Mason smiled and said, "Definitely not a Reptalonamorphic."

"Nope," I replied, smiling too. "Definitely not." I looked around homeroom, and felt my smile growing bigger as I observed all the normalness around us. Eventually homeroom ended. We went on to our first period.

The day continued. I found myself looking over my shoulder, expecting something to happen. But, somehow, we made it to the end of the day. I got on my bus by myself and sat down. My backpack was full of homework, but it didn't bother me. I was in a very good mood. Nothing had happened. Whatever the lights had warned Mason and me about in the hospital, it wasn't going to happen yet. I leaned back in my seat, and started to work on my homework. The bus started up, and drove off down the road.

The End


End file.
